Juliana – Chapter 134 The Grand Opening

Time in Willow Creek: 2 years, 8 months

For three months, Hillary and Juliana fought about her dress for the gallery’s grand opening. It was a black-tie affair, and Juliana was the main attraction. People from all over Oasis Springs–and beyond–would come to see her work and praise her name. The press would be there snapping pictures and begging for interviews. This would probably be the biggest night of her life, and she wanted to wear a simple dress? Not on Hillary’s watch. She picked out sparkly, elegant evening gowns worthy of the woman of the hour, but Juliana turned them all down. Either they were “too much” or she felt too exposed. Poor thing. Hillary thought she had finally come to grips with her own femininity, but she still had a long ways to go. She marveled at how Americanized Juliana had become while so much old-world Monte Vista remained. She had to explain to her over and over again that no one would lose their head over the dress. People would look at her and say, “Wow! She’s beautiful,” and not, “Whoa, why is she showing so much skin?” Juliana needed to be the most gorgeous woman in the building. All eyes would be on her all night, and she couldn’t disappoint them.

After she accepted her beautiful fate, she settled on a dress and Hillary couldn’t have been more excited. It was one of the first ones she tried on, and she looked amazing. The others were gorgeous but looked more like something she would wear a ball or some fancy gala with dancing. They were so flowing and had long trains. The venue was much too small for that kind of dress anyway. The one she selected was perfect. It hugged her in all the right places but still flowed. The halter style exposed her shoulders and back, and she looked so sexy but still elegant. If Kevin’s eyes didn’t pop out of his head, something was bad wrong with that man.

Juliana had so much hair, and Hillary wasn’t sure she could do it justice. Besides, she had to get herself and the baby ready and wouldn’t have the time to do Juliana’s hair and makeup, so she recommended a salon for her hair and agreed to do her face. Shortly after finishing up, Kevin arrived in a limousine to pick her up.

Juliana was terrified almost to the point of regret. Nothing about this situation was familiar. Why did she ever think this would be a good idea? Her whole life, she dreamed of showcasing her work in a gallery, but none of her dreams ever looked like this. She didn’t look like a movie star, arriving by limo dressed to the nines. She wasn’t accosted by people wanting to know her entire life story. So much had already been put into this including much of her dear Kevin’s money. It was too late to back out. Too late to admit she would much rather continue dreaming about it than actually going through with it. Maybe she would be happier doing something simpler with her life. Perhaps she could go to school, get a degree, and work as a librarian in her own library.

“You look amazing, Juliana.”

She flashed a quick grin and continued concentrating on not crying. Hillary would kill her if she did.

“Are you ok?”

She started to nod but shook her head.

“You’re scared.”

She nodded.

He scooted closer and draped his arm around her shoulder. “It’s ok to be scared. This is a big night! I’m a little nervous myself, honestly.”

“You are?”

“Sure. This is new for me too. I’m mostly excited but still a little nervous. But, that’s ok. It’s normal to be scared.”

“There will be so many people.” That was the only way she could describe how she felt. Honestly, her feelings were conflicted. While she always dreamed of people seeing her work in a gallery, she never wanted to be in the gallery while people gawked at and discussed her work. Every painting had a little piece of herself in it, and experiencing a bunch of people staring at them would feel like being naked in front of a crowd.

“I know. But the family will be there. And the art club too. I’m sure there will be plenty other faces you’ll recognize. Just pretend like you’re talking to the donors again, or you’re back at the town hall meeting. You were awesome then, and you’ll be even more amazing tonight.”

He kissed her cheek. She hoped he was right.

For the rest of the ride, he kept her mind occupied, and she appreciated it. When they arrived, they found Karli doing exactly what they paid her to do and what she did best: handling everything. She directed the bartender and pianist on where to set up and looked fabulous and confident; they were so lucky to have her. Honestly, they had no reason to arrive so early with her in charge. They could have arrived late like celebrities and wade through throngs of people, waving at them on their way in, but it wasn’t their style. Kevin wanted to greet people as they arrived especially because they had no idea who would attend apart from their own friends and family. They toyed with the idea of making it a private event, but that would fuel the fire of the people who opposed them in the first place. The gallery wasn’t some exclusive members-only club, and the grand opening shouldn’t have been either.

Jase and family arrived much later than anticipated and hoped they didn’t miss anything important. Abigail had missed one of her naps and made dressing her a painful experience. The child didn’t enjoy wearing socks, so putting on tights caused a huge ruckus. The only reprieve from the dressing saga was her hair. Everyone had been surprised to see how curly it was when it began growing out. The Humphries had hair straight as an arrow, so the curls must have come from his Latin genes, compliments of his mother. Hillary put a couple of barrettes in it and called it a success.

Harold offered to drive, but Jase suggested they take a cab. Because they were so late, all the good parking would probably be gone. Besides, an open bar awaited them.

When they arrived finally, Kevin was at the door speaking with a tall, blonde guy. Or, maybe his big hair made him look taller.

“Hey guys,” Kevin said when he noticed them. “I’m glad you made it! Marq, this is Juliana’s friend Hillary and her family.”

Jase felt weird about not being introduced by name, but maybe Kevin didn’t know what to call him; they hadn’t announced their relationship yet, so he probably didn’t know.

Blondie took Hillary’s hand and kissed it, sending a wave of panic over Jase. “Well, hello there, beautiful. I didn’t know Juliana had such stunning friends.”

Jase’s stomach dropped. That moment…that scene…it was the thing he had been waiting on. He didn’t realize it until then but saw it so clearly. The reason he hesitated to trust Hillary for so long was that history repeated itself over and over, and it was just a matter of time before it came back around again. They were always in a good place right before some tall, modelesque dude came along and stole her attention. How could he have been so stupid? She declared her love for him and made him trust her, and he let her in again. He wouldn’t be able to recover this time.

“Nice to meet you too,” she said as she clung to him.

“Hello there, little lady! Aren’t you pretty!”

“This is our baby, Abigail,” Hillary said, smiling at Jase.

The blonde douche finally realized he existed and introduced himself. “Marquis Girard, but you can call me Marq.”

“Jase. Nice to meet you.”

Marq grinned at him. “I know you’re a cool dude because you know gray is the best color for a tux, amiright?” He slapped Jase on the shoulder and laughed.

Kevin shook his head. “I swear you’re the only idiot who laughs at his own jokes. Don’t mind him, guys. Welcome, enjoy, and when you’re ready for the bar, it’s on the patio.”

Harold wandered off just before Kevin introduced them to that blonde yuppie. He didn’t go there to meet a bunch of people he would never see again. He came to see what Juliana had been doing for the past two years. Though she lived in his house, he respected her privacy and never went into her room. He knew she painted well but never saw for himself. Naturally, he would have preferred to go to the gallery sometime during the week after the party, but it would be important to Juliana that everyone went to this fancy event. He found her in the corner talking to some people and didn’t expect to see her looking so fancy. That dress had Hillary written all over it, and he snorted to himself. She looked so comfortable though. Apart from that one time he went to the library, he had never seen her outside the home where she was soft-spoken and submissive…unless Hillary pissed her off. This grown-up version of the scared foreign girl he used to know was a refreshing surprise.

She waved at him when she noticed, and he waited for her to finish her conversation.

“You made it!”

“Mmm hmm. We’re here.” He nodded toward Hillary and Jase.

People kept trying to get her attention, so he said what he needed to say. “So this what you been doing, huh?”

She grinned. “Yes.”

“My. Well…it’s mighty fine. I’m proud of ya, and Harriett is too.”

Her eyes glistened from tears moving in. “Thank you, Harold.”

He grabbed her hand and patted it before leaving her alone.

“You want something to drink?”

“I’m good,” he said a bit more tersely than he planned.

“What’s the matter? You want me to take her?”

“No, no, I got her. You enjoy your friend’s event.”

She looked a bit disappointed like she knew something was wrong and wanted to know what it was. “She’s busy. We can talk to her later.”

He walked around to the other side of the gallery, and she followed him. Abigail got a bit antsy, so he put her down.

“Do you think it would be fun to hang out with Kevin and Juliana? We could go to one of those places where you drink wine and paint.”

The randomness of her statement made him laugh, disarming him a little. “You don’t even like painting.”

“I’ve never tried! Besides, don’t they tell you what to paint with numbers or something?”

“Probably.”

Abigail began babbling and pointing to someone in the corner. He had no clue who they were or why she would be interested in them. “Y-yeah, ok, Abbie. We can talk to them later, ok?”

When she couldn’t go do whatever she wanted to do, she fussed. Jase got nervous. Not only were they in public, and he didn’t want to be that guy who couldn’t control his kid, but also Hillary would step in proving that he couldn’t handle his kid, giving her more reasons to keep her. He wanted to prove that he could take care of the girl just fine without her, but so far, he was failing.

“Don’t you want to look at Juliana’s pictures? They’re so pretty.” He scooped her up, but it proved to be a mistake.

The girl screamed and carried on, telling everyone in the place that her bedtime had passed. In the corner of his eye, he saw Hillary not smiling as bright as before, but not stepping in either. She wanted him to succeed even at the expense of her embarrassment. At that moment, he realized his feelings from before were all wrong.

“She’s tired,” she said as if to give him a helpful hint.

He snorted. “That makes sense. She fights me every night around this time.” He didn’t want to admit defeat, but the fact of the matter was he hadn’t been able to get her to cooperate at bedtime for the past few months. She loved her daddy, but for some reason, she did not appreciate him at night. “Here…take her.”

“Ok, sweet pea. Ok, ok. Shhhhh.”

And just like that, she calmed down. Hillary rubbed her back and rocked with her. “Why do you always fight daddy, hmm? That’s not nice.”

Gosh, she was so beautiful. She didn’t give herself enough credit, but she was a natural with children. She did so many little things that reinforced over and over again how there could only be one woman for him. After all those years of trying to make her see how perfect they were for each other, despite how wrong his approaches were, she finally chose him. He felt ashamed for thinking she would throw away what they had for some cute faces. Marq used to be her type, and she would have been all over him two years ago. Even after flirting with her, she remained professional and showed him who she belonged to. They also ran into her friend, Jesse. She seemed enthusiastic about seeing him, but that was just her way. Despite being glad to see him, she kept her eyes on Jase the whole time.

Actually, she stayed close to him all night, checking on him and making sure he was ok. Never once did she look longingly at the other guys. She chose him. Honestly, she chose him a long time ago, but he never had an opportunity to see it in action before. The carrot dangled in her face, and he got a little spooked, but she didn’t bite. He had her, and they were in it together for the long haul; he was certain of that now.

Juliana had much more fun than she imagined. To her surprise, she knew many of the people who came. All the Humphries were in attendance along with the art club and Selina. A few of the library’s donors also came. Branson Mello, his wife, and the Fonescas all happened to live in Oasis Springs and thought it was a coincidence that the gallery had the same name as her. Juliana overheard Hillary speaking to a woman who turned out to be her doctor. Kevin said they lived across the street from him. She recognized a few faces from the town hall meeting including the anxious reporter. He cleaned up very well, she had to admit. He behaved much more professionally, so she agreed to an interview. If Kevin saw them together, she would never hear the end of it.

With all the socializing, and standing in those heels, Juliana grew weary and hoped the party would end soon. She needed a few moments to regroup and enjoy some quiet, so she snuck around to the covered porch on the side of the building. She forgot how cool the evening spring air in Oasis Springs could be. Maybe it was because she usually had on more clothes. Whatever the reason, she caught a chill and attempted to go back inside.

Kevin met her at the door. “Oh, there you are. I’m gonna make the obligatory speech and then wrap this up. Are you all right?”

“Yes.”

He motioned for her to come with him while he found Karli and asked her to usher everyone outside. “You look like you had fun tonight.”

She smiled confidently. “I did.”

“I see your boyfriend found you too.”

She rolled her eyes and he laughed. People poured out of the building and spilled onto the patio and lawn.

“We appreciate each and every one of you for being here on this very special night. Galleria Sepulveda is not just an art gallery. It is the fulfillment of dreams.”

“It is also a great example of how dreams can come true with hard work and dedication. Not just dedication to your craft, but dedication to your dream. Juliana and I met in a bar almost three years ago.”–some people laughed–“I know…I can hardly believe it myself. We were both there for the first time, and we were looking at the artwork. I said to myself, ‘now there’s a kindred spirit.’ Heh, if you would have told me then what great friends we would become and how invested I would be in this young girl who could barely speak Simlish,” he turned toward her, “and how deeply in love I would fall three years later with the woman she would become…I wouldn’t believe you.”

His words never ceased to affect her, and it got really hard to keep from crying.

Realizing he got off track, he turned back to the audience to finish. “Three months ago, we first opened our doors quietly to get things in order. Now we welcome you to come and see and enjoy what Juliana has spent the last two years doing. She is an amazing talent–a natural talent. Despite how many talented artists we’ll showcase, Juliana’s work will always have a home here.” Applause echoed off the building. “Juliana, do you want to say anything?”

She nodded. “I didn’t know so many friends would be here. Thank you for being here. To the art club, I learned to express in different ways from you. Thank you for the friendship. The Humphries are my family. They took me in and cared for me when I had nothing. I don’t know where I’d be now without them. Thank you for the love.” She turned to Kevin. “And Kevin…” The words got stuck in her throat, and an onslaught of tears assaulted her cheeks. “I love you.”

She fell into his chest as the crowd said “awww” and applauded even louder than before.

“I love you too,” he said, holding her as she cried happy tears. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

She came out of his arms, wiping her face and hoping she didn’t look like a raccoon. “Yes, I’m ready.” Hillary probably cringed, but at least her work lasted for the entire night.

Kevin grabbed her hand and waved to the crowd. “Goodnight, everyone!”

They piled into the limo and sighed in relief as their backs hit the plush, leather seats.

“Are you glad it’s over?”

“Yes, but I liked it.”

She placed her head on his shoulder, and he grabbed her hand. “I’m glad.”

The words she attempted to say earlier were released. “You do so much for me. Sometimes…I feel I don’t deserve it.”

“If there is anyone on earth who deserves to have everything, it’s you.”

She chuckled. “I don’t think that is true, but…thank you for everything.”